HUDSWELL CLARKE 0‑6‑0T No. 680/1903 GOTHENBURG
‘Brand loyalty’ is not a concept one associates with locomotives. But consider the road haulier that might only buy lorries from one manufacturer. That’s a continuation of what industrial railway owners were doing 100 years ago.
Leeds locomotive builder Hudswell Clarke stole a march on its competitor Hunslet (it was only the width of
Jack Lane that separated the two) when it won the favour of the Manchester Ship Canal.
The MSC had received ten Hunslet ‘Chest’ 0‑6‑0Ts in the 1890s before it switched its allegiance to Hudswell Clarke. HC provided its own take on the ‘Chest’, which it dubbed the ‘Canal’ class. Incredibly, Hudswell Clarke would build 26 ‘Canals’ for the MSC, before building a further 20 machines built to a slightly enlarged design. These became the ‘Sweden’ class.
How did a canal company become responsible for Britain’s largest private railway system? Work started on the 36‑mile canal in 1887 but, two years later, contractor Thomas Walker died. The canal company took over the contractor’s railway after Walker’s death. It was this temporary system that became the basis for the Manchester Ship Canal railway.
The railway’s main line followed the course of the canal for most of its length. Its strength lay in the huge network of siding and yards that blossomed along its length. Places such as Salford Docks and Trafford Park generated a huge amount of freight traffic for the railway.
‘Canal’ 0‑6‑0T No. 680 emerged from Hudswell Clarke’s workshops in 1903. It served the MSC as No. 32 Gothenburg, but it would play a bigger role for its current owner.
The East Lancashire Railway Preservation Society was formed in 1968 to preserve a section of this railway; the original home was on the Accrington branch at Helmshore. However, after the remaining Bury to Rawtenstall line closed for passengers, the society moved into the Castlecroft goods shed.
Thanks to a partnership between the railway and local authorities, the ELR was opened between Bury and Ramsbottom, and Gothenburg hauled the first train on July 25 1987. Unlike other railways that started with former industrial power, Gothenburg continues to play an important role at the ELR, sharing front line passenger duties along with playing Thomas.